Re: [libreoffice-users] Multi-source Mail Merge
On 05/11/2015 02:44 PM, T. R. Valentine wrote: On 11 May 2015 at 16:30, A publicf...@bak.rr.com wrote: On 05/11/2015 05:43 AM, T. R. Valentine wrote: On 9 May 2015 at 13:40, A publicf...@bak.rr.com wrote: I have multiple spreadsheet files that each represent one unique item. As an analogy, think of the spreadsheet as a basket that contains a variety of eggs (both calculated and hand-entered data). I have multiple baskets each with multiple eggs. Each basket (spreadsheet) is associated with one person. Each person can have multiple baskets (although that's probably not relevant). I also have a letter, with which I want to do a mail merge - against each spreadsheet. i.e. each letter needs to draw multiple pieces of data (eggs) from each spreadsheet, one letter per spreadsheet. Normally to do a mail merge you have one data source. The problem of course is that I don't have one data source, I have an unknown number - each spreadsheet is a data source. So I'm at a loss as to how to mail merge against multiple data sources in an automated fashion. Would it be possible to create a 'master' spreadsheet, linked to the various single spreadsheets and then do the mail merge from the 'master'? That's a really good idea in concept, however in practice I don't know how it would work. I presume you're saying that the master spreadsheet would contain filenames of all the other spreadsheets? That's fine except I don't see how that helps, as each file needs to be opened by the mail merge function one at a time and there doesn't seem to be a way to automate that. Unless you're saying that the master would contain just the needed cells from the other spreadsheets? That seems interesting... it would solve the mail merge problem as then I'd only have one data source, but I'd have to hand enter each file name, modifying each cell one at a time. That doesn't sound too appealing. You copy from the cells in the various spreadsheets and do a Paste Special to the 'master', selecting 'Link'. That way, any changes made to the various spreadsheets is reflected in the 'master'. (Ranges can be copied and linked with a single Paste Special — no need to copy and re-enter one cell at a time.) I see what you're saying now. I may end up trying that if no better alternatives present themselves. Thank you -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [libreoffice-users] Multi-source Mail Merge
On 9 May 2015 at 13:40, A publicf...@bak.rr.com wrote: I have multiple spreadsheet files that each represent one unique item. As an analogy, think of the spreadsheet as a basket that contains a variety of eggs (both calculated and hand-entered data). I have multiple baskets each with multiple eggs. Each basket (spreadsheet) is associated with one person. Each person can have multiple baskets (although that's probably not relevant). I also have a letter, with which I want to do a mail merge - against each spreadsheet. i.e. each letter needs to draw multiple pieces of data (eggs) from each spreadsheet, one letter per spreadsheet. Normally to do a mail merge you have one data source. The problem of course is that I don't have one data source, I have an unknown number - each spreadsheet is a data source. So I'm at a loss as to how to mail merge against multiple data sources in an automated fashion. Would it be possible to create a 'master' spreadsheet, linked to the various single spreadsheets and then do the mail merge from the 'master'? -- T. R. Valentine A rich heart may be under a poor coat. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [libreoffice-users] Multi-source Mail Merge
On 05/11/2015 05:43 AM, T. R. Valentine wrote: On 9 May 2015 at 13:40, A publicf...@bak.rr.com wrote: I have multiple spreadsheet files that each represent one unique item. As an analogy, think of the spreadsheet as a basket that contains a variety of eggs (both calculated and hand-entered data). I have multiple baskets each with multiple eggs. Each basket (spreadsheet) is associated with one person. Each person can have multiple baskets (although that's probably not relevant). I also have a letter, with which I want to do a mail merge - against each spreadsheet. i.e. each letter needs to draw multiple pieces of data (eggs) from each spreadsheet, one letter per spreadsheet. Normally to do a mail merge you have one data source. The problem of course is that I don't have one data source, I have an unknown number - each spreadsheet is a data source. So I'm at a loss as to how to mail merge against multiple data sources in an automated fashion. Would it be possible to create a 'master' spreadsheet, linked to the various single spreadsheets and then do the mail merge from the 'master'? That's a really good idea in concept, however in practice I don't know how it would work. I presume you're saying that the master spreadsheet would contain filenames of all the other spreadsheets? That's fine except I don't see how that helps, as each file needs to be opened by the mail merge function one at a time and there doesn't seem to be a way to automate that. Unless you're saying that the master would contain just the needed cells from the other spreadsheets? That seems interesting... it would solve the mail merge problem as then I'd only have one data source, but I'd have to hand enter each file name, modifying each cell one at a time. That doesn't sound too appealing. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [libreoffice-users] Multi-source Mail Merge
On 11 May 2015 at 16:30, A publicf...@bak.rr.com wrote: On 05/11/2015 05:43 AM, T. R. Valentine wrote: On 9 May 2015 at 13:40, A publicf...@bak.rr.com wrote: I have multiple spreadsheet files that each represent one unique item. As an analogy, think of the spreadsheet as a basket that contains a variety of eggs (both calculated and hand-entered data). I have multiple baskets each with multiple eggs. Each basket (spreadsheet) is associated with one person. Each person can have multiple baskets (although that's probably not relevant). I also have a letter, with which I want to do a mail merge - against each spreadsheet. i.e. each letter needs to draw multiple pieces of data (eggs) from each spreadsheet, one letter per spreadsheet. Normally to do a mail merge you have one data source. The problem of course is that I don't have one data source, I have an unknown number - each spreadsheet is a data source. So I'm at a loss as to how to mail merge against multiple data sources in an automated fashion. Would it be possible to create a 'master' spreadsheet, linked to the various single spreadsheets and then do the mail merge from the 'master'? That's a really good idea in concept, however in practice I don't know how it would work. I presume you're saying that the master spreadsheet would contain filenames of all the other spreadsheets? That's fine except I don't see how that helps, as each file needs to be opened by the mail merge function one at a time and there doesn't seem to be a way to automate that. Unless you're saying that the master would contain just the needed cells from the other spreadsheets? That seems interesting... it would solve the mail merge problem as then I'd only have one data source, but I'd have to hand enter each file name, modifying each cell one at a time. That doesn't sound too appealing. You copy from the cells in the various spreadsheets and do a Paste Special to the 'master', selecting 'Link'. That way, any changes made to the various spreadsheets is reflected in the 'master'. (Ranges can be copied and linked with a single Paste Special — no need to copy and re-enter one cell at a time.) -- T. R. Valentine A rich heart may be under a poor coat. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [libreoffice-users] Multi-source Mail Merge
Thank you for your response. Each letter to be generated relies on one single spreadsheet for all its data. On 05/10/2015 07:28 AM, Mark Stanton wrote: This sounds like an interesting problem. So, just doing it manually, how do *you* know how many spreadsheets are required for any particular result? Mark Stanton One small step for mankind... In article 554e54ba.9070...@bak.rr.com, A wrote: I have multiple spreadsheet files that each represent one unique item. As an analogy, think of the spreadsheet as a basket that contains a variety of eggs (both calculated and hand-entered data). I have multiple baskets each with multiple eggs. Each basket (spreadsheet) is associated with one person. Each person can have multiple baskets (although that's probably not relevant). I also have a letter, with which I want to do a mail merge - against each spreadsheet. i.e. each letter needs to draw multiple pieces of data (eggs) from each spreadsheet, one letter per spreadsheet. Normally to do a mail merge you have one data source. The problem of course is that I don't have one data source, I have an unknown number - each spreadsheet is a data source. So I'm at a loss as to how to mail merge against multiple data sources in an automated fashion. Thank you in advance. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [libreoffice-users] Multi-source Mail Merge
Thank you for your response. I am using ubuntu 14.04, however ideally any solution would be Excel compatible if possible. In regard to your suggestion, perhaps I'm missing something but I don't see the advantage of inserting a DDE link (assuming I can even do that). The problem I need to solve is how to avoid having to change the data source manually, I do not think your solution addresses that problem? On 05/10/2015 12:06 PM, Mike wrote: Regarding: I have multiple spreadsheet files that each represent one unique item. As an analogy, think of the spreadsheet as a basket that contains a variety of eggs (both calculated and hand-entered data). I have multiple baskets each with multiple eggs. Each basket (spreadsheet) is associated with one person. Each person can have multiple baskets (although that's probably not relevant). I also have a letter, with which I want to do a mail merge - against each spreadsheet. i.e. each letter needs to draw multiple pieces of data (eggs) from each spreadsheet, one letter per spreadsheet. Normally to do a mail merge you have one data source. The problem of course is that I don't have one data source, I have an unknown number - each spreadsheet is a data source. So I'm at a loss as to how to mail merge against multiple data sources in an automated fashion. You don't specify OS; I am using Windows 7 Pro and this may work for you: Copy cell (or select and copy a range) from spreadsheet Click on word processor Click on Edit/Paste Special Click on DDE link Click on OK Any changes to spreadsheet will be reflected in the Word processor You will have to adjust size and location of pasted data. You can repeat this procedure for any other spreadsheets - you are not limited to just one source. This works well for cells and cell ranges, but not well with an entire spreadsheet. For an entire spreadsheet, I tried using Insert/Object/OLE Object/Create from file/Link to file and then navigating to the desired file. I then double clicked on the desired file and then on the OK button. The spreadsheet is inserted, but I cannot get it to display properly. If I right click on the spreadsheet and then on edit the spreadsheet is displayed, but as soon as I click anywhere in the word processor document all I see is a black box instead of the spreadsheet data. BTW, my first reaction to your question is that, depending on the complexity of the calculations, a database application sounds more suitable for your needs, but that is probably not a useful recommendation for you at this point. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [libreoffice-users] Multi-source Mail Merge
This sounds like an interesting problem. So, just doing it manually, how do *you* know how many spreadsheets are required for any particular result? Mark Stanton One small step for mankind... In article 554e54ba.9070...@bak.rr.com, A wrote: I have multiple spreadsheet files that each represent one unique item. As an analogy, think of the spreadsheet as a basket that contains a variety of eggs (both calculated and hand-entered data). I have multiple baskets each with multiple eggs. Each basket (spreadsheet) is associated with one person. Each person can have multiple baskets (although that's probably not relevant). I also have a letter, with which I want to do a mail merge - against each spreadsheet. i.e. each letter needs to draw multiple pieces of data (eggs) from each spreadsheet, one letter per spreadsheet. Normally to do a mail merge you have one data source. The problem of course is that I don't have one data source, I have an unknown number - each spreadsheet is a data source. So I'm at a loss as to how to mail merge against multiple data sources in an automated fashion. Thank you in advance. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [libreoffice-users] Multi-source Mail Merge
On 9-5-2015 20:40, A wrote: I have multiple spreadsheet files that each represent one unique item. As an analogy, think of the spreadsheet as a basket that contains a variety of eggs (both calculated and hand-entered data). I have multiple baskets each with multiple eggs. Each basket (spreadsheet) is associated with one person. Each person can have multiple baskets (although that's probably not relevant). I also have a letter, with which I want to do a mail merge - against each spreadsheet. i.e. each letter needs to draw multiple pieces of data (eggs) from each spreadsheet, one letter per spreadsheet. Normally to do a mail merge you have one data source. The problem of course is that I don't have one data source, I have an unknown number - each spreadsheet is a data source. So I'm at a loss as to how to mail merge against multiple data sources in an automated fashion. Thank you in advance. If one person has multiple baskets (=sheets), will this person receive one letter? or multiple letters? This looks like (in SQL): SELECT egg1, egg2, egg3 FROM basket1 UNION SELECT egg2, egg3, egg4 FROM basket2 UNION SELECT egg3, egg4, egg5 FROM basket3 How equal/similar are these eggs, and the number of eggs in a basket? -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
[libreoffice-users] Multi-source Mail Merge
Regarding: I have multiple spreadsheet files that each represent one unique item. As an analogy, think of the spreadsheet as a basket that contains a variety of eggs (both calculated and hand-entered data). I have multiple baskets each with multiple eggs. Each basket (spreadsheet) is associated with one person. Each person can have multiple baskets (although that's probably not relevant). I also have a letter, with which I want to do a mail merge - against each spreadsheet. i.e. each letter needs to draw multiple pieces of data (eggs) from each spreadsheet, one letter per spreadsheet. Normally to do a mail merge you have one data source. The problem of course is that I don't have one data source, I have an unknown number - each spreadsheet is a data source. So I'm at a loss as to how to mail merge against multiple data sources in an automated fashion. You don't specify OS; I am using Windows 7 Pro and this may work for you: Copy cell (or select and copy a range) from spreadsheet Click on word processor Click on Edit/Paste Special Click on DDE link Click on OK Any changes to spreadsheet will be reflected in the Word processor You will have to adjust size and location of pasted data. You can repeat this procedure for any other spreadsheets - you are not limited to just one source. This works well for cells and cell ranges, but not well with an entire spreadsheet. For an entire spreadsheet, I tried using Insert/Object/OLE Object/Create from file/Link to file and then navigating to the desired file. I then double clicked on the desired file and then on the OK button. The spreadsheet is inserted, but I cannot get it to display properly. If I right click on the spreadsheet and then on edit the spreadsheet is displayed, but as soon as I click anywhere in the word processor document all I see is a black box instead of the spreadsheet data. BTW, my first reaction to your question is that, depending on the complexity of the calculations, a database application sounds more suitable for your needs, but that is probably not a useful recommendation for you at this point. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
[libreoffice-users] Multi-source Mail Merge
I have multiple spreadsheet files that each represent one unique item. As an analogy, think of the spreadsheet as a basket that contains a variety of eggs (both calculated and hand-entered data). I have multiple baskets each with multiple eggs. Each basket (spreadsheet) is associated with one person. Each person can have multiple baskets (although that's probably not relevant). I also have a letter, with which I want to do a mail merge - against each spreadsheet. i.e. each letter needs to draw multiple pieces of data (eggs) from each spreadsheet, one letter per spreadsheet. Normally to do a mail merge you have one data source. The problem of course is that I don't have one data source, I have an unknown number - each spreadsheet is a data source. So I'm at a loss as to how to mail merge against multiple data sources in an automated fashion. Thank you in advance. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
